


Superman

by punchbowls



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: DC Comics References, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, could maybe be seen as shippy if you squint?, idk i wrote it as platonic but knock yourself out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 01:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21046295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punchbowls/pseuds/punchbowls
Summary: Rung gets kidnapped, and it's up to Swerve and Skids to get him back.





	Superman

The ground was cold. The air was cold. Everything was cold, except for the energon slowly, but steadily leaking from Rung’s abdomen and various other places. The dim world above him, lit by a single light, was blurry even through the one good lense of his glasses. 

“Tell us what we want to know,” snapped one of his kidnappers. 

Rung swallowed, trying not to choke on the energon in his throat. “I can’t tell you if I don’t know what you want.”

“Slag!” A pede drove into Rung’s injured side, and he cried out. “What’s Gearclank planning?!”

Rung tried to answer that he didn’t know, but his voice processor refused to function at its usual speed. Just before he could stutter an answer, a fist pummeled into his face. Energon exploded from his nose and splattered and smeared across his cracked glasses. 

“Stick him on the voltage harness. If he still doesn’t wanna talk after that, we’ll make sure he doesn’t talk ever again.”

“W-wait, I really don’t-” Another fist collided with the side of his head.

“Too late, runt.”

Rung’s denta ground together as his arms were wrenched upward to lift him into the harness. Energon trickled from his side, down his leg, and splashed on the floor. 

“Please,” Rung gasped.

A scream was ripped from his vocal processor as the device turned on. There was a crash and shouts around him, but Rung hardly noticed. He sagged in the harness when it was suddenly turned off. His whole frame tingled and his wounds throbbed. 

“What are you doing?! Let him go!” someone shouted. 

Rung lifted his head, but failed to see what was happening through the dirty lenses of his glasses. 

“They already sent someone, huh?” One of the kidnappers chuckled. “Well, maybe you’ll be more compliant.”

Rung screamed again as the voltage harness was turned back on.

* * *

“Where’s Gearclank?!” shouted the kidnapper.

Swerve wrenched his eyes from Rung. Who was Gearclank? He didn’t know a Gearclank, did Rung know a Gearclank?

“Gearclank’s dead!” Swerve blurted.

“Dead?” the big bot by the controls repeated. He laughed. “Then why are you here?”

“You don’t need my friend there anymore if Gearclank’s dead, I’m collecting him.”

“On the contrary, if Gearclank’s dead someone knows where his stash is. I hope for your friend’s sake, it’s you.” 

Rung’s back arched as the voltage was turned up. 

“It’s-it’s-”

A grating crashed down from the ceiling and Skids landed on the kidnapper by the controls. He picked up the bot and swung him into the other. He deactivated the voltage harness and moved to engage the kidnappers. 

“Get Rung out of there!”

Swerve didn’t need to be told twice. He sprinted to the orange bot, who was far from coherent, and tried not to panic. His fingers fumbled with the restraints as blows landed and yelling sounded behind him. 

“It’s okay, Rung, we’re gonna get you out of here, you’re going to be fine! Ratchet’s going to fix you up perfectly again. You’re going to be totally fine!”

Rung’s head lolled as Swerve worked and the minibot’s spark jumped. “Please don’t die, please don’t die, please don’t die.”

He winced for the incapable psychiatrist as the restraints finally unlocked and the limp body fell into Swerve’s arms. 

Metal screeched against metal and someone howled in pain. Swerve lowered Rung to the ground and held a hand against his side to stem the flow of energon. Skids was pummelling the last bot still conscious. A shudder ran through Rung’s frame and his optics flickered dimly to life. 

“I-I-I don’t- I don’t know-know-please…”

Swerve’s spark wrenched. “Rung, shh, it’s me Swerve. I’m going to take your glasses off okay?” 

“Swer-swerve?”

“Yeah,” the minibot said. He gently removed the glasses, and hoped Rung would at least recognize him. “Skids and I are going to get you out of here.”

Rung’s optics squinted up at him a moment before dimming.

“Skids! Skids! I can’t move him, we need to get him to Ratchet!”

The theoretician delivered a final blow and jogged back to them. 

“It’s bad,” Swerve said. 

Skids nodded, his expression grim as he took in Rung’s state. He gathered the smaller, orange bot carefully in his arms. The frame shivered again and he sounded panicked. 

“Swerve?”

“I’m here, I’m here,” Swerved reached up to curl his fingers around Rung’s from where they hung limply. “Skids is carrying you.”

“Hey Eyebrows,” Skids murmured as he walked, “You’re safe now. We’re on our way back to the Lost Light.”

* * *

As Rung’s systems onlined, he became aware of a weight on his arm and another presence on the opposite side of him. Panic flared through him for a moment, but when his optics flickered on he relaxed. Swerve had offlined against his arm, and Skids was reading a data pad in a chair next to him.

Once the theoretician realized he was awake, he put down the data pad. “How are you feeling?” he asked softly. 

“A little sore,” Rung admitted. He squinted up at Skids. “How long have you been here?”

“We haven’t left. Well, we did when Ratchet forced us out, but we didn’t go far. I think Swerve watched the whole time.” Skids said. He reached to a desk and handed Rung his glasses. “I fixed these for you.”

Rung smiled and took them with his free hand to put them on. His smile faltered when he remembered energon- his energon smeared across them. They were clean now though, and not a trace of a scratch was left on them. A hand touched his shoulder and he looked up at Skids. 

“You okay?”

Rung nodded and smiled. “Thank you.” 

“Anytime, Eyebrows.”

Rung chuckled and looked to Swerve. “How long has he been like that? It can’t be good for his back.”

Skids reached over and tapped Swerve on the helm. The minibot’s systems whirred back to life and he jolted upwards. “-And Skids repaired your glasses completely! I thought they were ruined forever for sure and- Rung! You’re awake!” 

Swerve launched his arms around Rung’s neck, carefully avoiding his side. Rung vented a laugh in surprise and slid his arms around the minibot. 

“Yes, thank you…” He trailed off and his optics went misty. 

Skids shifted in his seat. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Swerve jerked back to look at Rung. “What’s wrong? Do we need to get Ratchet? Are you hurting?”

“No, no! Nothing’s wrong,” Rung choked out. He slid his fingers under his glasses to wipe away coolant. He smiled up them. “I’m just very thankful to have you here.”

The other two bots smiled back and Swerve hugged him again. 

“Don’t smother him, he needs his rest,” groused Ratchet as he entered the room. 

Swerve moved back to let the medic check Rung over. “You should make a fast and full recovery. You’ll need to take it easy for at least a week.”

“Understood, thank you, Ratchet.”

“Skids knows the specifics- Skids what are you doing?” Ratchet asked as the theoretician lifted Rung up. 

“Taking him to go rest, you told me the specifics. He’s safe to move. C’mon, Swerve.”

“You be careful and don’t make me regret-”

“We’ll be fine Ratchet!” Skids called over his shoulder. 

“Uh, Skids, where are we going?” Rung asked from where he was cradled in his arms. 

“Figured you need a comfortable space that’s not the med-bay,” he answered as the trio made their way to Rung’s habsuite. 

“I hope you don’t mind, I set up a space to watch movies. I brought Superman ones- the human superhero- well he’s not human, but it’s a human series. I thought they’d be appropriate because that’s exactly who Skids was like! You should have seen him take out the bad guys, it was awesome,” Swerve said as they entered. “You’re like Superman too though, Rung, always looking out for everybody. Hey! You’ve even got glasses like Clark Kent. Are you a superhero in disguise? Did those guys have some kind of kryptonite so that the dynamic duo had to find you?” 

Rung chuckled to himself as Swerve rambled on about earth superheroes. A blanket fort of sorts had also been set up around Rung’s berth for, as Swerve put it, ‘maximum comfort.’ And comfortable it was, especially with Skids and Swerve settled on either side of him. Warmth radiated from both of them and as the movie played, Rung drifted into a blissful sleep.


End file.
